


Stranger Things: Eye of the Beholder

by Dem0g0rg0n



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2020-07-22 19:57:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19987852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dem0g0rg0n/pseuds/Dem0g0rg0n
Summary: Will Byers and El Hopper have moved away, leaving behind a fractured Party. Dustin is left caught between Mike's despair over losing his girlfriend and best friend, Max's grief, and Lucas's desire to move on from it all. The situation in Richton, Pennsylvania is no better. Will refuses to speak with his old friends, especially Mike, and El struggles to cope with the loss of nearly everything she's ever turned to in life for support. Things aren't helped by the arrival of a mysterious new boy at Will's school, nor the re-emergence of El's 'Lost Sister', who warns of a new threat from the deepest bowels of the Upside Down...





	1. Chapter 1

“... I really miss you.” 

It was already getting late. Already, Mike thought, even though he’d been lying in the grass, staring up at the sky and talking to El for three hours straight. It never felt like three hours, though, or four hours, or even five on a really bad day. It felt like minutes. Less than minutes. Precious seconds of time he got to spend with her. 

Then, of course, every second he wasn’t talking to her felt like an hour. Why wouldn't they? Life wasn't exactly prone to throwing him any bones.

“I miss you, too.” El’s voice came through over the walkie talkie. “... I’m happy we can still talk.”

“Me too… and you know who we can thank for that.” Mike looked over to his side at Dustin, who was sitting cross-legged nearby, his face shoved into a comic book. 

“Dustin.” El said. Mike could practically hear the smile on her face. “Thank you.”

“Hey, Dustin!” Mike called over to Dustin, who glanced up from his comic. “El says thanks!” 

“Always a pleasure to feed your girlfriend addiction.” Dustin said, giving him a small salute before going back to reading. Mike scoffed as he turned over onto his back. 

“He says you’re welcome. In his own way.” He said. “... I guess I’d better go home soon, though. It’s late.” 

Silence from the other end. Mike could tell she wanted to ask him to stay. He wished he could. Were his parents about to let him lay around on a hill overnight talking with his girlfriend on the weird contraption his friend built, though? Definitely not. They wanted him home. Especially on the night before high school started.

Finally, El’s voice came through.

“Goodnight, Mike.” She said, obviously reluctant. “Talk to you tomorrow?” 

“Absolutely. First chance I get.” Mike said. 

He paused for a moment, biting his lip as he considered his next words.

“Hey, El… do you think you could try to get Will to talk to me?” 

“I can try.” She said. The way she said it wasn't exactly heartening, but he couldn't blame her. It wasn't the first time he'd asked.

The last time he really talked to Will at all was the day they’d moved away. They hugged, said goodbye, and Mike thought they’d be talking just as much as he and El were, but...

Will didn’t want to, and it didn’t take a genius to guess why. They’d gotten so wrapped up in the whole thing with the Mind Flayer, he’d never gotten much of a chance to make up for how he treated him over the summer. Mike _thought_ he’d apologized, tried to make sure there were no hard feelings, but apparently that wasn’t enough. 

It was hard to make up for it now, though, when Will wouldn’t even take a second to say hi over a walkie talkie. Mike figured he just had to give him time, some space to figure out the whole moving situation. It was _hard_ , though. Nothing was the same without Will, not even the most basic stuff. 

Seriously, what was there to do in Hawkins without Will? Go see a movie? Jesus, no, that’d dredge up _memories_. Like laughing with Will when Nightmare on Elm Street made _both_ of them jump out of their seats. Play D&D? Without Will, it just felt wrong. Besides, it wasn’t like he could play with just him and Dustin. Hang out at the arcade? Not without remembering taking turn trying, and failing, to top Max’s high scores. 

Nothing about Hawkins felt right without him. In theory, it was the same town it always had been. In practice, it was emptier than before. A Hawkins without Will Byers wasn’t a Hawkins he wanted to live in. 

“Thanks.” Mike said, failing to keep his voice from sounding distant. 

~

> _Richton, Pennsylvania_

“Absolutely. First chance I get.” Mike’s voice, from the walkie talkie. El smiled. 

Talking to him always felt right. Not a lot else did. 

Richton was not Hawkins. Not at all. Hawkins was home. The cabin, the friends she made, the dad she found, those were home. Richton wasn’t home. It was different. A bad kind of new. 

Keeping the walkie talkie pressed to her ear, El looked over the surface of her desk. Her gaze caught on the two pictures in the corner. One was of her, standing with her friends. Mike, Max, Dustin, Will, Lucas, and her. Together, just days before they moved. She reached out a hand and touched the frame, feeling a soft smile forming on her face. 

There was another picture next to it. Her and Hopper, sitting on the steps outside their cabin. He had one arm around her shoulder and a smile on his face. A warm smile. The kind he never knew he could make. Smiling back at the picture, her eyes flickered to the blue hair tye on her wrist. 

“Hey, El… do you think you could try to get Will to talk to me?” 

She looked away from the picture, focusing on Mike’s voice again. 

He’d asked her to do that before, but it never worked. Will didn’t talk to anyone. All he did, as far as El knew, was sit in the basement watching movies. Even Jonathan and his mom had a hard time getting him to say anything to them.

It was weird. Even if she never knew him very well, she knew that Will wasn’t like this before. He was just as quiet, but kinder. Someone who liked his friends.

“I can try.” She said. 

“Thanks, El.” Mike said. “Just… tell him I want to talk.” 

“Okay.” She said, getting up from her chair. Not sounding doubtful was hard.

As she stood up, she heard a soft noise behind her. Turning around, she saw that something on the back of her chair had fallen: a mask. The mask that her sister gave her. She frowned, picked it up, and put it back in its place. 

It was down to the hall after that, to Will’s room. She stopped outside the door and knocked.

When no answer came, she knocked again.

“What?” Finally, Will said something. 

“Will.” El said. “Can I… come in?” 

After a few moments, the door opened, revealing Will on the other side.

“... Why?” Will asked, his brow furrowed.

“Mike.” She said. His eyes narrowed a fraction. “He wants to talk.” 

Silence, as Will’s eyes drifted down to the walkie talkie.

“Do you know why?” He asked.

El thought for a moment. Even if Mike didn’t _tell_ her why, guessing was easy. She knew Mike. Knew that he cared about his friends more than anything. She’d seen the things he’d done for them, for her, things that anybody else would’ve been too scared to do. Not talking to Will, she guessed, felt a lot like how she felt when she couldn’t talk to Mike. 

“He misses you.” She said. 

Will’s expression softened, the frown on his face fading just enough for her to notice. 

“Okay.” He said, looking from her face to the walkie. “I’ll talk to him.” 

She handed it over and watched as he pressed it to his ear and shut the door. 

~

“What is it, Mike?” 

Will’s voice!

Mike jolted into a seated position, looking over at Dustin and pointing to the walkie talkie. It felt like it’d been ages since he’d even heard _from_ Will, and even longer since they’d actually talked. Dustin looked up from his comic, smiling and giving Mike a thumbs up. 

“Will!” Mike said. “Dude, it’s been so long. What’s up?” 

Only silence from the other end. Mike frowned, looking over at the controls to see if something had gone wrong. Everything seemed normal.

“Will? You there?” He asked.

“I’m here.” Will said. Mike could hear his voice wavering. “I’m just... I'm just busy, okay? I can’t talk unless it’s something important.” 

It was obviously a lie. Mike almost called him on it. Instead, he sighed and pressed the walkie talkie to his chest, looking up at the sky before putting it back to his ear.

“Okay. Sure. You’re busy.” He forced the words out. “It’s just… I miss you, and I want to talk to you again. Whatever you want to talk about. So, uh, you know, when you aren’t busy--” 

“Sure, okay.” Will cut him off. “But I’m really busy right now. Bye.” 

The walkie cut out. 

Mike practically fell back down, letting his arms, and the walkie, fall to his side.

“He hates me.” He said, not even turning to look at Dustin. 

“He doesn’t hate you.” Dustin said, getting up and walking over. “He’s just pissed off and probably feels weird after moving. You gotta give him time.” 

He held out a hand. Mike looked at him, limp despair on his face. 

“It’s been weeks.” He said, taking Dustin’s hand and starting to get up. “ _Weeks!_ How much time does it take before we can just say that he totally hates me?” 

“Mike, Will _can’t_ hate you.” Dustin said, helping Mike to his feet. “Lucas, though…” 

Mike sighed, scrunching his face into a frown. 

“Do we have to talk about Lucas right now?” 

The argument was two weeks ago, but it was still fresh in Mike’s mind. Lucas’s too, probably. Things had been getting tense between them for a while before, ever since the Byers moved away. Where Mike wanted to keep in touch with El and Will, Lucas was just expecting him to be _cool_ with the fact that they were gone. As if everyone could move on as easy as he could. 

The actual argument was the worst part. They’d argued before, but nothing like this. It was the kind of argument that could mean it was over. They both said things that Mike, at least, hadn’t been able to forget. Chief of which being Lucas telling him there was no fixing the fact that Will hated him now, so it was time to just move on. 

Those words hadn’t left his head for weeks. 

“We have to sometime.” Dustin said. “I guess not now.” 

“Yeah. Definitely not now.” Mike agreed. “... I should go home.” 

It was getting late, and he had a feeling he’d want to sleep as much as he could. Funny how going into high school was never a scary thought before he realized he’d have to do it without Lucas and Will. 

“Yeah. Me too.” Dustin said. “Are you gonna be okay, man?” 

“I’ll be fine. I guess.” Mike said, lying. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow, right?” 

“Yeah!” Dustin said, trying to cheer up. “You and me, first day of high school. It’ll be awesome.” 

That isn’t how Mike would describe it, but he at least forced a smile for Dustin’s sake. 

“Yeah. It’ll be awesome.”

He walked off, down the hill and back to his bike. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aware there are some discrepancies with canon here, namely the timeline for the Byers family's move. Consider this a minor AU, where Joyce decided to move a bit earlier than before.


	2. Chapter 2

“Okay. Sure. You’re busy. It’s just… I miss you, and I want to talk to you again. Whatever you want to talk about. So, uh, you know, when you aren’t busy…” 

Will held the walkie talkie to his ear. It didn’t hit him until Mike started talking, but wasn’t this the first time he’d heard Mike’s voice since the move? By the time that thought was in his head, he could feel his face getting red, tears making their way to his eyes. 

“Sure, okay.” He rushed his words, feeling his grip start to shake. “But I’m really busy right now. Bye.” 

He shut off the walkie.

God, crying over Mike. Really? How  _ stupid  _ was that? He brushed the tears out of his eyes, trying his best to steel himself as he looked back to the door. Did he really want to open it looking like he did, though? El would definitely tell Mike if she saw him crying over this, and that was the last thing he wanted.

Setting the walkie down on his desk, Will instead walked over to his bedroom window. Looking out at the street, lit only by the street lights, he couldn’t keep himself from noticing how different it was. They weren’t living in the middle of nowhere anymore, surrounded by nothing but trees and grass. Richton was practically a city compared to Hawkins.

That was a good thing, right? It was different. Not to mention far away from all that stuff with the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer, away from the people who only wanted anything to do with him when he was gone, away from _ everything _ he wished he could forget. 

If it was such a good thing, why were there still tears in his eyes? 

He turned around, eyeing the walkie on his desk. Would Mike still be there if he tried to call him? Slowly, he walked over and picked it up, fidgeting with the controls a bit. He almost -  _ almost _ \- turned it back on to talk. But he didn’t. Memories flashed through his head. 

Mike and Lucas, practically forgetting he existed, just because they had girlfriends now. Breaking every promise they ever made not to leave each other behind. Thinking about their stupid, fragile love lives instead of doing anything fun. Treating him like total shit just so they could go back to swapping spit with girls. 

Will forced his expression back to a semblance of normality, wiping the last few tears he had out of his eyes. He marched over to his door and opened it, finding El waiting outside. 

“We’re done.” He said, holding the walkie out to her. 

She took it, quietly looking him over. 

“What did --” 

“ _ Goodnight _ , El.” Will said, slamming the door behind him as he turned away. 

He shut off his lights and threw himself onto his bed. 

Sleep was the last thing he wanted to do. If he slept, it meant he’d have to wake up on the first day of high school. Imagining what that would be like was… scary. He always felt like high school wouldn’t be any different from middle school as long as he had his Party with him. Back then, it really felt like Mike, Lucas, and Dustin were always gonna be there for him. 

El wasn’t going, for obvious reasons. It wasn’t like they got along great anyway. 

That was his own fault, he knew that much, but he didn’t care. Why should he want anything to do with her? Yeah, blaming her, or Max, for how their boyfriends acted was stupid, but that didn’t mean he had to like either of them. It wasn’t like they  _ helped _ . They just ignored him, like everyone else.

He turned over, pulling his blankets over himself. Finding new friends was gonna be impossible. High school kids were pretty much all assholes. Jonathan told him that much. There were maybe a few exceptions, but he’d be lucky to find even one. 

Did he really want to make friends anyway? Friendship didn’t exactly work out great last time. If even the friendships he had, strong as they were, went the way they did, any friendship would fall apart eventually. He knew he couldn’t deal with that happening again. 

Whatever. He just had to get through the first day. And then the next day. And then however many more until next summer. Then… he’d have to get through his first summer without any friends. 

Still better than last summer, he thought, shutting his eyes.

\--

  
Standing outside Will’s door, walkie in hand, El had to wonder what happened between him and Mike. Will only had the walkie for a few minutes, but if he was acting like that…

She looked down at the walkie, seeing that Will had shut it off. If he was still there, Mike would probably want to talk about what happened. Right? Moving back to her room, El shut the door behind her, sat down on her bed, and turned the walkie back on. 

“Mike?” She asked. Nothing.

It probably wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to her. The thought did cross her mind, but it only lasted a few moments. He said goodbye, and told her it was getting too late for him to be out. Even if she wished they could talk forever, he complained about it enough to know that he had to go out to Dustin’s invention to reach her, and his parents wanted him home eventually. 

Turning the walkie off, her eyes drifted to the phone mounted on the wall nearby. Joyce told her that she could have one in her room, if she ever wanted to call her friends in Hawkins. It was… nice. Joyce had done a lot to try and make her feel more comfortable. Even if El was sure nothing would work, she appreciated it. 

She wanted to call Mike. It wasn’t something they did a lot after they were done using Cerebro, but they both had bad nights where they had to talk more. She remembered getting a call from him after his fight with Lucas. It was one of the few times she heard him crying.

After whatever happened with Will, he could probably use her company. She got off her bed, walked over, and picked up the phone. Remembering Mike’s number didn’t take much effort. It was one of the only two numbers she ever called. 

The phone rang a few times, before someone picked up.

“Wheeler residence.” Came a voice from the other end. A man. Mike’s father. 

“Hi.” El said. “Can I… talk to Mike?” 

“Michael isn’t home just yet.” Mr. Wheeler said, sounding stern. “And he’s going to need his rest tonight. Why don’t you call back tomorrow after school?” 

El wished she could think of the right words to convince him. It wasn’t the first time one of Mike’s parents had answered the phone instead of him, and they were never easy to deal with. His mom was better than his dad. 

“Okay.” She said, before hanging up.

“Mouth breather.”

Frowning down at the phone, El tried to think of any other way she could reach him. The thought of using her powers to see him crossed her mind, but… they were still gone. Besides, even if she did have them, she promised Mike she wouldn’t use them to spy on him again. 

It looked like they would have to wait until tomorrow. It was weird. Twenty-four hours weren’t supposed to feel like forever. Not knowing what to do, El looked down at the phone again. There was only one other person she could think to call when she needed advice. 

El dialed the number and waited as she heard the phone ringing. 

“Uh, hey?” Max’s voice. She sounded annoyed. Probably because it was getting late, El figured. “Who’s this?” 

“Max.” El greeted her on instinct, before realizing what Max had asked her. “I mean, El. This is El. Hi.” 

“Oh, El! Hey!” Max said. “Sorry, I thought you were like, a crank caller or something.” 

“Crank… caller?” El asked. 

“Yeah, like, someone who calls people up and says stupid shit.” Max replied. “We get them sometimes late at night. So, what’s up? How’s Richton?” 

“Bad.” El said. “It’s… not Hawkins.” 

“Well, Hawkins isn’t so great either.” Max said. “But I definitely get it. The last place you were always looks a lot cooler after moving.” 

Right. El remembered that Max moved to Hawkins, that she lived somewhere else before. 

“How did you… do it?” She asked, running her fingers along the phone’s cord. “Put up with moving.”

Max went quiet. 

“Max?” She asked. “Are you there?” 

“Huh?” Max said. “Oh, yeah. I’m here. Sorry, I just. I was thinking about… something. Anyway, I guess... I put up with it by making new friends. You know, Lucas, Dustin, those guys. Don’t tell any of them I said it, but they were the only reason I stayed sane.” 

El paused. 

“I don’t want new friends.” She said. “I like my old friends.” 

“Well, you don’t have to get rid of the old ones.” Max said. “It’s not like Mike’s  _ ever  _ about to stop calling you. You can just add new friends on top of the old ones.” 

“Add new friends…” El said, considering. Something else crossed her mind. “Should Will add new friends too?” 

“I don’t know. Probably.” Max said. “What, is he still not talking to anyone?” 

“Yes.” El said. 

“Jesus.” Max sighed. “Well, I don’t know shit about Will, except that his bullshit’s pretty much the whole reason Lucas and Mike won’t even talk anymore. If you can somehow get him and Mike to make up, maybe everything over here would start looking normal again.” 

“I… don’t know how.” El said. “Will doesn’t talk.” 

“I don’t know either.” Max admitted. “Look, they’ll probably figure it out themselves. At least  _ we’re _ not fighting.” 

El looked down at her feet. Something about that didn’t sit right with her. Everyone was hurt, and Max wanted to just let them sort it out? 

“Yes.” She said. “... I think I should sleep.”

“Oh.” Max said. “Uh, okay. Right. It’s late. You should call me up again tomorrow, though. I’m sure I’ll have plenty to talk about.” 

“Okay.” El said. “Goodnight, Max.” 

“Night, El.” Max said. “Talk to you tomorrow.” 

She hung up. Placing the phone down next to her, El stood up and walked back over to her desk. She sat down, plucking at the hair tie wrapped around her wrist. Even Max didn’t know what to do about Will and Mike. It didn’t even seem like she wanted to figure out how to help them. 

“Add new friends.” She whispered to herself, leaning down to rest her head on the desk. 

That couldn’t be right. 

\-- 

It took time before Will finally fell asleep, and even longer for him to start to dream. At first, he thought he was just waking up.

He was in his room. Same desk, same movie posters, same bed, same everything. Except it was different. Darker. Darker than any night could be. As he sat up and looked around, he could feel his breath catching in his throat. He recognized the darkness. How could he not?

There was no forgetting the Upside Down.

It had to be a dream. Not a vision, not like the visions from before. The Mind Flayer was gone, they  _ killed  _ it. And even if it wasn’t, it wasn’t in his body anymore. This was just a nightmare, like all the other nightmares he had before. Just because he hadn’t had one in a while didn’t mean they were gone for good. But no matter how hard he shut his eyes or pinched his skin, he didn’t wake up. 

He slowly got out of bed, compelled to move over to the window. It was the same outside. The lights were out, some of them shattered or fallen, leaving the street in complete darkness. Will could only barely make out tendrils of flesh and unknown matter creeping across the streets onto the cars and buildings. 

There was something else.

Just barely noticeable at first. It was one just one shadow, moving in a way it shouldn’t have. Then it was two shadows. Then three. Will’s eyes widened as he watched more shadows start to move, slithering from their positions and joining together in the center of the street. As they met, they rose up from the ground, coalescing together into a small, floating orb of shifting darkness. 

It rose up, getting bigger as more shadows joined. Transfixed, Will could only watch as it grew and grew, slowly becoming an enormous, writhing mass of darkness. Will stumbled away from his window, nearly falling back off of his feet, as it started to change. Something  _ opened  _ in it. The shadows parted, making way for a massive, crimson eye. The eye, fixed between this mass of shadow, turned to stare through his window. 

Its eye met his.

Finally, Will woke up. 

Crying out, Will sat up in his bed and looked around. Everything was back to normal. No tendrils, no darkness, no giant eye monster outside. Trying to slow his breathing down, Will wrapped his arms around himself and shut his eyes. 

Slowly, he started to calm himself down. 

“Just a stupid dream...” He muttered to himself between heavy breaths. 

It was so _ clear _ , though. The image of that… thing, the eye staring through his window directly at him, was seared into his head. Maybe some nightmares were just like that, he thought. The worst ones usually were. When he dreamed about the Upside Down, though, it was always the Demogorgon or the Mind Flayer, never… whatever that was. 

Finally managing to lie back down, Will forced himself to shut his eyes again. Well, he was in a new town. Maybe that meant even his nightmares would be different. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who left kudos or a comment! I probably wouldn't have gotten as far as chapter two without your encouragement.


	3. Chapter 3

The closer Mike got to Hawkins High, the stronger his memories of Hawkins Middle got. Funny how excited he was to get away from it way back when, how the only real feeling he had towards the place was ‘get me away from here’. Just a short year ago, if anyone asked him what biking to high school instead of middle school would feel like, he would’ve said something like ‘freedom’. 

Things change, apparently. Too many things. Even the things you think will never change.

Friends, for starters. Having Dustin still around was great, no doubt, but the idea of jumping into high school life without Lucas and Will should’ve been completely unthinkable. The best memories Mike had, the ones that wouldn’t stop pestering him, were the ones shared with them. 

Winning the science fair. They did that plenty of times, almost once per year they were in middle school. The stuff they came up for that was still badass, even the year they didn’t win. That year, pretty much every other kid did something like a volcano, or a soda fountain, but Will came up with the idea to make their own battery. A smile forced itself onto Mike’s face as he recalled Mr. Clarke’s stammered apology, assuring the four of them they should’ve taken home the gold, that the school just had to make sure the other parents didn’t think he was playing favorites. 

The night after that, they celebrated how they always did. Even if they were all bummed out by the loss. It was pizza and D&D. The night was rough, if he remembered it right. Will got it in his head that they would’ve won if they went with another idea. Mike remembered letting him get the last hit on the big villain of the campaign.

What kind of memories would he have after high school, he wondered? There was no Party anymore. You can’t run a campaign with just a Bard and a Paladin. 

Slowing his bike down as he reached the parking lot, Mike took a moment to look around, take in the atmosphere. It wasn’t too different from Hawkins Middle. The kids were bigger, and some of them could drive, but besides that? Pretty much the same shit he was used to. A lot of kids milling around talking to each other about God knows what. Besides the size, the cars, and the sudden presence of letterman jackets, how was this supposed to be any different from middle school? 

True to ‘being Hawkins Middle for larger kids’ form, there were a few bike racks out in the parking lot. Mike rode his bike over, got off, and set about chaining it to the bike rack. Hearing the sound of another bike riding up, Mike turned to see Dustin coming to a stop beside him, a wide smile on his face. Seeing him beaming like that was just enough to get Mike to try and return his smile.

“Told you it was gonna be awesome!” Dustin said, bringing his bike to a stop.

Mike tilted his head, raising his eyebrows.

“Dude.” Dustin got off his bike. “Look around you. We’re in high school! There’s like, high school seniors here! We’re basically on their level of cool now!”

“Did you forget the part where we’re  _ freshmen _ ?” Mike asked. 

“Uh, so?” Dustin walked his bike over to the rack. 

“So, we’re basically the least cool ones here.” Mike turned to look at the entrance. The big ‘HAWKINS HIGH SCHOOL’ sign plastered above the door didn’t do anything to help him feel better. 

“Whatever. Next year,” Dustin said, smile still on his face as he chained his bike to the rack. “We’re gonna be  _ driving _ . In style, too, if Steve lets me take his car. And if not, we’re still badasses for having licenses in the first place, right?” 

“Yeah. Right.” Mike couldn’t keep his voice from dipping into exasperation. 

Dustin’s smiles started to falter. Honestly, he felt like a bit of a dumbass for not expecting this. It was Mike being Mike, that typical ‘I’m-gonna-be-miserable-no-matter-what’ syndrome he got whenever something was getting to him. There was, as far as he knew, no immediate cure. That didn’t mean he couldn’t try, though. 

“Hey,” He reached out, putting a hand on Mike’s shoulder. “Neither of us thought it was gonna be like this. We gotta make the best of it, though. Right?” 

“I guess.” Mike said, tearing his gaze away from the entrance. “It’s just… I don’t know. Forget it.” 

Right. Asking Mike, of all people, to make the best of something bad.

“There’s a lot of shit on your mind.” Dustin said, as he started leading Mike towards the door. “Come on, though! It’s high school. We’re moving up. That’s exciting, right?” 

“... Maybe a little.” Mike said, moving alongside Dustin. 

“Jesus,” Dustin sighed. “Let’s just get you inside. It’ll all sink in once you see it.” 

As much as Mike doubted that, there was literally nothing else he could do besides go with Dustin. As they walked, though, something, some _ one _ to be precise, caught Mike’s eye. Slowing down, he turned just enough to see Lucas standing at one of the bike racks. 

It looked like he’d just gotten there, with Max riding up shortly after. They were talking, apparently oblivious to either Mike or Dustin being there. 

“Hey.” Dustin said. “You should go talk to him.” 

“What?” Mike looked at Dustin. “Talk to him about  _ what _ ?” 

“Come on, you know what. You can put all this shit behind you right now.” Dustin said. 

“What if I don’t  _ want  _ to put it behind me?” Mike started walking towards the school. 

“You  _ do _ , though.” Dustin followed after him. “It’s not like this is the first fight you’ve ever had. Being all angry at each other is just making both of you miserable, like it always does.” 

“He didn’t look miserable to me!” Mike said. “He looked like he was chatting away with his girlfriend, probably about how much better shit is without me.” 

“Holy shit, Mike.” Dustin said. “Do you seriously think that’s what’s going on?” 

“I don’t know! Maybe!” Mike grabbed the handle to the entrance door and threw it open, drawing the attention of a few kids nearby. “I’m just saying, me and Lucas are done. That’s it. End of story, okay?” 

“Not okay!” Dustin followed him into the building, barely keeping up with his pace. “Totally not okay.”

“Look.” Mike stopped walking, lowering his voice. “Just drop it. You were  _ there _ . Lucas went too far this time.” 

“So did you!” Dustin said. “And just because Lucas looks okay doesn’t mean he is. He needs you just as much as you need him.” 

Mike glared at him, feeling like just one more word was all it would take for him to explode.

“I  _ don’t  _ need him.” Mike had to force himself not to shout. “And I don’t want to get into a fight with you, too. So just… let me go find my first class, and we can meet up at lunch. Okay?” 

It pained Dustin to let this drop. Given the best chance in the world to fix one half of what was making him so miserable, Mike was seriously just going to walk away and go to class? Sure, the stubbornness fit his profile, but the  _ stupidity  _ really didn’t. All Dustin wanted to do was grab him by the shoulders, walk him over to Lucas, and force them to make up.

Better judgement won out. This wasn’t going to be as simple as forcing them to talk things out, getting them to handshake or whatever. Shit was just so much easier when they were twelve, wasn’t it?

“Fine.” Dustin said. “We’ll talk at lunch.” 

“Yeah. See you then.” Mike turned around and started to walk away.

Before Mike vanished into the crowd, Dustin noticed his shoulders drooping, his arms falling back to his side, everything tense and rigid about his posture dropping. As stupid as this whole thing was, just the way he looked reminded Dustin that Mike  _ was  _ dealing with a lot of shit. Some of it by his own design, sure, but mostly not.

The best way to deal with that was patience. And maybe a bit more prodding in the right direction. 

Left alone, Dustin reached into his pocket and pulled out his schedule. It was crumpled up and torn, the ultimate fate of all papers he had to carry around, but still readable. From the looks of it, his first class was gonna be math. Because of course it was. He groaned, looking up from the paper at the clock mounted above the doorway. 

There were about ten minutes before he had to be in class, meaning The Hunt was on. It was time for him to stumble around the school trying to find the right classroom, hoping beyond hope he didn’t have to ask any upperclassmen where it was. They were, as a wise video rental clerk once said, total jackasses who would prank him without a second thought. 

“Hey, Dustin.” 

Dustin recognized Lucas’s voice right away. He turned around, spotting his friend stepping through the doorway. It struck Dustin right away that Max was nowhere to be seen. 

“Lucas!” Dustin said, forcing a smile. “Where’s Max at?” 

“I dunno. She went off on her own.” Lucas shrugged. “She’s been pissy lately, you know? I mean, more than usual.” 

Great, so she was like pretty much everyone else, Lucas probably included. As much as he wanted to say that out loud, he kept it to himself. There was no reason to heat things up further. Squandering the first opportunity he had to talk with Lucas about this stuff, or anything really, was the absolute last thing he wanted to do. 

As the apparent last connection between two arguing dumbasses, it was his duty not to slip up.

“Yeah, I mean, she’s dealing with shit.” Dustin shrugged. As weird as it was to him, given he’d only known Billy Hargrove as ‘that massive asshole who beat up Steve and got his ass possessed somewhere along the way’, the guy was still Max’s brother. They had to have had some kinda connection. “So it makes sense.” 

“Except the part where she doesn’t want to  _ do  _ anything anymore.” Lucas said. “Kind of a common theme.” 

“I guess.” Dustin said. “It was a crazy summer though. Shit’s rough now, you just gotta give it time.” 

“Yeah, but how long is shit gonna be rough?” Lucas asked, rolling his eyes. “It’s whatever. At least she agreed to hang out tonight after school. The arcade should totally cheer her up.” 

“I hope so.” Dustin said. He meant it, too, even if he wasn’t so sure that was the way to get Max in a better mood. Losing your brother just didn’t feel like something that could be patched up with a trip to the arcade, for some reason. 

“It will. Trust me.” Lucas said. “If any of us knows how to make the ladies happy, it’s me.” 

Dustin arched his head forward. It was tough to hold back a comment about how Lucas was the only one of them whose girlfriend didn’t seem one-hundred percent happy to be around him nowadays, but he did it. Their relationship really wasn’t his business, and he hadn’t been spending too much time around them anyway. So, maybe he was right. 

Or maybe he was actually being as much of a dumbass as he sounded. That was, for Dustin’s money, the statistical probability. 

“Uhhh… yeah. Sure.” He said, taking a glance at the clock. “Anyway, we’d better get going. Classes start soon.”

“Oh, shit. Yeah.” Lucas frowned, also looking to the clock. “See you later.” 

“Yeah, see you.” Dustin looked down at his schedule and started off in what he assumed was the direction of his next class. Before he could take more than a few steps, though, Lucas spoke up from behind him.

“Hey, Dustin.” He said. “... How’s Mike doing?” 

Oh, he  _ totally  _ called it. Repressing a smile, Dustin turned around. 

“Not gonna lie, he’s pretty bad.” He said. “He could use his best friend.” 

A split second of indecision passed over Lucas’s face, and in that second, Dustin was sure he knew exactly what was coming. He could practically hear Lucas saying he could use Mike’s company just as much, agreeing to figure out how to talk to him over lunch so they could apologize. Then Mike would get in a better place, figure out how to talk to Will, hang out with his friends more, and they’d all live out the rest of their high school years they way they were  _ supposed  _ to: together. 

“Yeah, well.” Lucas’s expression hardened. “Maybe he should’ve thought about that before he went all asshole on me.” 

Of course.

With that, Lucas walked off into the crowd. Groaning, Dustin rolled his eyes and started off again towards his class. Of  _ course  _ Lucas was going to be just as stubborn as Mike, was there actually any doubt?

Passing by throngs of students, Dustin thought back to the night that started all this bullshit between them. The big fight that left both of them pissed enough to shut each other out for weeks. Trying to remember it was like trying to remember a nightmare. The feeling was a lot easier to recall than what actually happened.

It was a deep, ugly feeling in his gut. It hadn’t really gone away since then, either. Every time it got brought up, every time Mike made it obvious how much  _ worse  _ he was getting, and now when Lucas made it clear he was gonna be just as bad as Mike, it came right back.

What if they were right? What if they really never made up? As he made his way through the halls, eyes darting from door to door checking the numbers, he couldn’t keep himself from thinking back to that night. It was late. He remembered that Mike had forgotten to meet up with them at the theater for a movie, and Lucas insisted that they go find him…

\--

They were out way later than they should’ve been. As he followed Lucas up the hill to Cerebro, Dustin looked up at the pitch black sky. With a groan, he took a few quick steps to catch up and grabbed Lucas by the shoulder to get his attention.

“What, Dustin?” Lucas didn’t stop, but looked over his shoulder.

“It’s so late, dude.” Dustin said. “I’m tired, our parents are probably gonna be pissed as hell, and you don’t even know Mike is still here. We should just go home.” 

“No way!” Lucas looked forward. “Someone’s gotta tell Mike to cut the shit, and he’s  _ definitely  _ still here talking to El.” 

“Can’t you yell at him tomorrow?” Dustin asked, though he didn’t expect an answer. 

At least they weren’t far from Cerebro. Within a few minutes, it was within sight, the tall satellite visible even against the night sky. Sitting next to it, just like Lucas said, was Mike. His back was turned to the two of them, and he was just setting down his walkie as they got close. 

“See?” Lucas said, giving Dustin a short glance before moving over to Mike. 

This wasn’t gonna be pretty, Dustin thought. He kept following. 

“Hey! Mike!” Lucas called out. Mike looked over his shoulder, his eyes widening as he spotted the two of them approaching. 

“Oh, shit.” He said, getting to his feet and turning around. “Lucas, I, I can --” 

“ _ Don’t _ .” Lucas stopped a few inches away from Mike, crossing his arms. “You were supposed to meet up with us for the movie. Return of the Living Dead. Remember?” 

“Yeah, look, I know. I’m sorry.” Mike held up his hands defensively. “It’s just, El was--” 

“Dude! Stop with the excuses!” Lucas interrupted him. “You talk to El every minute of every day! Can’t you just tell her that  _ maybe  _ your other friends want to hang out with you once or twice a week?” 

“Jesus, would you let me  _ finish? _ ” Mike snapped back. “Sorry I want to be there for my girlfriend when she’s going through all this shit!” 

That was when the feeling kicked in. It was there before, when he’d just been nervous about the two of them fighting like this, but nowhere near as strong. When they started, and Dustin knew that all he could do was watch them go at it, it was in full force. 

“That’s not the problem, Mike!” Lucas said. “Don’t you think maybe you’re there for her enough? You don’t even talk to anyone else!  _ Why  _ do you think Will hates you now?” 

Both of them shut up for a second, letting tension hang heavy in the air. Dustin looked between them. Mike’s face was frozen in disbelief, his eyes locked on Lucas, who looked surprised, more than anything else. 

“Fuck you, Lucas.” Mike finally managed to speak. “Will -- Will doesn’t hate me, me and Dustin are the only ones who even try to talk to him anymore!”

“Yeah, and how’s that working out, Mike?” Lucas asked, though Dustin noticed his voice wasn’t quite as forceful as before. “You need to move on.” 

Lucas turned around and took a step away.

“Move on? You mean give up on them, like you?” Mike clenched his fists. “What, do you think all of us can just forget about our friends? Just go watch movies and play games and act like nothing’s wrong? I mean, Jesus, how’s  _ that  _ working out for you and Max? What are you on, the twentieth breakup?” 

Lucas spun around, taking a few steps towards Mike.

“Oh, fuck off, Mike --” 

Finally, Dustin stepped up and got between them, putting a hand on their chests. 

“ _ Hey _ !” Dustin shouted, barely managing to keep them from getting any closer to each other -- 

\--

The bell rang, snapping Dustin out of the memory. 

“Oh, shit!” Dustin said, realizing how caught up in his thoughts he’d been. After looking down at his still-crumpled schedule, then checking the numbers on the doors nearby, he set off down the hall in what he hoped was the direction of his class. 

\--

Isolation. 

It wasn’t the first time Will had felt it. Far from it. It was, however, the strongest he could remember the feeling ever being -- in this dimension, at least. Whenever he felt alone before, he’d nearly always had people there. His old friends. Even when he was away from them, separated in the Upside Down, he knew they were looking for him. Up until summer, he could always count on them to help chase it away. 

Now, even stuck in a lunchroom full of other kids, he felt lonelier than ever. Seated at the table closest to the wall, his chin resting on his palm, all Will could do was watch his classmates. 

It was hard to tell exactly what most of them were doing. There was a lot of noise, the sound of countless teenaged voices drowning each other out. A group of boys nearby chatted excitedly, giving each other wide smiles. 

Two girls right nearby hugged the moment they spotted each other. It was easier to hear them talking. ‘So good to see you’, ‘its been so long’, ‘how was your summer’... Will sighed and looked away. 

He imagined his friends, hundreds of miles away, doing the same stuff. 

What he needed was a distraction. 

There was one thing that always worked for him. He unzipped his backpack and rooted through it to find a pencil and notepad, which he pulled out and set down on the table. Flipping to an empty page, Will quickly got to drawing. Instinct alone had him sketch out a tall, wizened man in starry robes, a staff raised high above his head, eyes set forward onto some unknown evil off to the side of the page. 

The world started to fade around Will as he drew. The kids, the school, the lunchroom around them, everything stopped mattering, until...

“Holy shit.” 

A voice startled him out of concentration. 

Will jolted, looking up and trying to cover the page with his hands. Standing in front of him was a boy, tall and lanky, with jet black hair just barely short enough to be out of his light blue eyes. There was a smile on his face, though Will couldn’t quite read it. He leaned forward, trying to get a better look at Will’s drawing. 

“Hey --” Will said, pulling the notebook away. 

“Dude!” The boy said, tilting his head. “That looked so cool! What was that, a wizard or something?” 

Will blinked. Cool? Was he serious?

“Uh, yeah.” Will said. “Do you… like that kinda stuff?” 

“ _ Like _ that stuff? You’re talking to the guy who just finished his fifth time reading  _ Fellowship of the Ring _ .” The boy sat down, smile widening to a massive, ear-to-ear grin. “C’mon, let me see. Please? 

Cautious, Will removed his hands from the page. The boy quickly snatched the notebook and brought it right up close to his face. If it were possible for his smile to get any wider, it would have. 

“ _ And so, staff held aloft, the wizard cast the last of his many spells, one to banish the dread evil which had overtaken the lands... _ ” The boy put on a deep, dramatic voice. “ _ With the dark power vanquished, the townsfolk looked to their hero and saw… _ ”

He looked from the drawing to Will.

“You got a name for him?” 

“Uh…” Will tugged at his sleeve, avoiding eye contact. “Will. The Wise.” 

“ _ Will the Wise! _ ” The boy set the notebook down and slid it back over. “Sorry, I used to be uh, Dungeon Master. You know, for D&D? You ever played?” 

Will couldn’t help but return his smile. 

“It’s okay, I… I used to.” He said. 

“Used to?” The boy asked. “What happened?” 

Will again picked at his sleeve. 

“Well, I just moved here.” He said. “And the people I played with back home… they weren’t really interested by the time I left.” 

Frowning, the boy leaned on the table, resting his cheek on his palm. 

“Really?” He asked. “I just moved here, too. Used to have my own group back home, kinda like you, except… I mean, they were still into it by the time I left. Those guys’re probably lost without me.” 

He laughed.

“Maybe… maybe we can play together.” Will said. “I’m Will.” 

Brandon looked up, brow furrowing. 

“You named the wizard after yourself?” He asked. Will swallowed. 

“Y-yeah, I know, it’s kinda lame, but --”

“No, no it’s totally not! I named my character after myself too. Brandon the Brave!” Brandon held out a hand, putting on the same deep voice from before. “You are well met, Will the Wise.” 

Will looked at his hand. Wasn’t a handshake a little formal for kids? Or… was this normal for high school? 

“Brandon… the Brave.” Will said, a hint of reluctance making its way into his voice as he took his hand. “Nice to meet you, too.”

They shook hands. It took Brandon a few moments before he let go, keeping their hands locked together as his eyes drifted up to meet Will’s. 

After a few moments of eye contact, Brandon finally let go. 

“Well!” Brandon said. “Let’s hope we’ve got a class or two together. If not, you wanna meet up after school? New nerds gotta stick together.” 

Was it too much of a coincidence? Happening to run into another high school kid who’s into D&D, who happens to be a Dungeon Master, who happens to be into the same stuff -- that doesn’t just happen, right? Will couldn’t be sure. The only other kids he’d really talked to for the past few years were his old Party. 

And what was with that handshake? Are teenagers even supposed to shake hands? 

Will looked him over. Was he just being paranoid? If this was some kind of trick to mess with the new kid, wouldn’t Brandon have just taken the chance to show his drawing to everyone else? It was possible this was some kind of extremely elaborate scheme, sure, but what if it wasn’t? Brandon seemed cool. They liked the same stuff. He honestly seemed like he wanted to hang out.

Richton isn’t Hawkins, Will reminded himself. Nightmares or not, danger wouldn’t be lurking around every corner. 

“Sure.” Will said, a light smile forming on his face. “See you then.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait on this chapter! It's longer than the others, and took a bit more thinking on what I wanted to happen. Thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Just like Mike expected, the first day at school was god awful. Sure, nothing specifically bad happened _ ,  _ but it didn’t need to. Not when it was the first day of school, at a brand new school, with only about one fourth of the people he thought would be there with him.

There was one saving grace, the only thing that kept him going as he suffered through boring class after boring class: the promise that he’d be able to talk to El again once it was all over.

So he trudged uphill towards Cerebro, a hand on his forehead to keep the sun out of his eyes. His legs were hurting, he was tired out from a  _ long  _ day, and the fact that Dustin hadn’t come with him made him feel like garbage, but that wasn’t gonna stop him. 

Hopefully Dustin wasn’t too pissed. Maybe he just wanted a break from all the bullshit going on. Mike couldn’t blame him, even if he normally wanted to be around whenever anyone used Cerebro, just to make sure nobody messed up his prized creation. Still, he had to worry. Lucas and Will already both hated him, he didn’t need his last friend leaving too.

Once he made it to Cerebro, he rushed to it and started adjusting its settings. Just a few dials to switch around and he’d be right in contact with El. Once he was done, he pressed the walkie to his ear, and laid down in the grass. Resting his free hand over his eyes, Mike flipped the switch on the walkie.

“El?” He said. “You there?” 

It took a few moments for him to get a response. 

“Hi, Mike.” Her voice came through the walkie. Mike breathed a sigh of relief, smiling.

“El.” He said. “God, you have  _ no  _ idea how happy I am to hear you.” 

“Was school bad?” She asked. It wasn’t always easy to pick up the subtle touches in her voice, but he could usually hear what she felt. Hearing the softness in her voice, the sign that she understood how he was feeling, that she actually cared -- that was nearly enough to make him forget he was ever hurting in the first place. 

“Yeah. I mean, it’s the first day. Those always suck, even when it’s not a new school.” He said. “What about you? How’re you?” 

“I’m okay.” She said, though Mike wasn’t totally sure he bought it. Out of all of them, what happened over the summer really fucked her over the worst. Losing the guy who was basically her dad, then being forced away from just about everything else she had… every day had to be pretty awful after that, he thought. 

“You sure?” He asked. “Because, you know, if you had a bad day, you can tell me.”

“I know.” She said. “Why was school bad?” 

She didn’t want to talk about it, in other words. Concerning as it was, Mike couldn’t blame her, and he definitely wouldn’t push her. If she wanted to talk about Hopper, or about the move, or about anything else, she would say it. As much as he wanted to just  _ fix  _ everything going on with her, somehow make her as happy as she was before all the summer bullshit, that wasn’t the way to do it.

All he could do was be there whenever she needed him. 

“Oh, it’s just… I don’t know. I think Dustin’s mad at me over the whole Lucas thing.” He said. “It’s weird, he thinks we’re just gonna suddenly make up and be friends again, even after Lucas said that shit about -- about Will hating me or whatever. No way.” 

El went quiet. Awkwardly quiet. 

“Sorry.” He sighed. “I don’t wanna drag you into the bullshit over here. You’ve got enough going on.”

“It’s okay.” El said. “Maybe you should.” 

“What, drag you into this stuff? Why?”   
  


“No.” El said. “Talk to Lucas.” 

Of course. He let his other hand fall to the ground, moving the walkie away from his head so he could groan without her hearing. 

“Why?” Mike asked, putting the walkie back to his ear. “I mean, I could maybe get over the stuff he said, but he doesn’t even care about you and Will anymore. It’s like all that shit over summer just suddenly turned him into a massive asshole.” 

“Max says he acts weird.” She said. “That you can help him.”

Mike rolled his eyes. Max! Right! The supreme authority on absolutely fucking nothing, least of all the boyfriend she dumps every time he takes the smallest step out of line! He couldn’t say that, though. There were a few rules he’d set for himself, and one of them was not badmouthing Max to El. 

Not because Max didn’t deserve it, but for El’s sake. Max was like, El’s best friend, someone who would talk with her and hang out with her. El needed that. He’d have to be a real asshole to want to drive a wedge between them, even if he and Max weren’t exactly pals.

“Okay. Max says so.” Mike kept his voice level. “Weird how?” 

“I don’t know.” El said. “She doesn’t say.” 

“Then maybe…” 

That’s Max’s problem to deal with, she should put more effort into their relationship, she doesn’t really know shit about Lucas in the first place -- all that and more went through Mike’s head, but he didn’t say a word of it. 

“Maybe  _ she  _ should talk to him about it. She’s his girlfriend.” 

Last he checked, at least. 

“Maybe.” El said. There was a low, distant tone to her voice. 

“I think that’s just a Lucas and Max problem. We don’t really have to worry about it, right?” Mike said. “What’s been going on with you? You liking Richton any better lately?” 

“No.” El said. 

Even a maybe would’ve been better than a no.

“What makes it so bad, anyway?” Mike asked. “You haven’t told me that much about it. It’s like, what, a city? That’s kinda cool.” 

“Kinda cool… Maybe. But there’s nobody here.” She said, before adding. “Will doesn’t talk.” 

Of course, Mike already knew why she hated Richton. He knew he’d feel the same way if he were there, separated from all but one of his friends, with the one friend there not saying a word to anyone. He’d be totally miserable. Add everything else she had to deal with on top of that… Mike’s heart  _ ached  _ just knowing she was going through all that. 

He wondered if what he was doing was enough to even help. If ‘being there’ was really do any good for her. Really, was he actually there for her at all if he was just a voice on a walkie? He could talk to her, listen to her feelings, hear her voice as much sadness or anger or anything as she wanted, but would it ever be as good as actually  _ being _ there?

No. It wouldn’t. He knew that, and he was pretty sure that she thought it too. Being apart like this was already killing him. It wasn’t as bad as it was before, not like before when they’d been apart for a year, when he didn’t even know if she were alive and she could do nothing to reassure him of it, but it was still  _ bad _ . 

“Maybe you should try talking to him.” Mike said. “I know Will. He’s not an asshole, even if he’s pissed at me. Maybe you can help each other out.” 

“Okay.” El didn’t sound committed, or even like she believed him.

“We’re gonna see each other again soon. I promise.” Mike said. “But you’ve gotta try and find something there that makes you happy, okay? Maybe Richton isn’t all bad.” 

“Maybe.” She said. As good as he’d gotten at telling how she was feeling through her voice, now he wished he could see her face. That would’ve made it easier. As it was, he couldn’t tell what kind of maybe that was supposed to be. “I just want to see you again.” 

Mike’s heart sank. That confirmed it. She’d been feeling the same way he had, and no amount of ‘I miss yous’ or ‘see you soons’ could fix it. Now that she said it, they both had to realize that there was no easy way to solve it. Maybe there was no way at all. They were going to be kept from each other, left knowing that if they could just see each other again everything would be that much better. 

He wasn’t content to let that just be, though. Not when he could think up some way to fix it, try and at least help El get somewhere better. His life was probably fucked, but hers didn’t have to be. 

“I know.” He said. “That’s all I want, too. But… okay, think about this. Weren’t you happy when you were hanging out with Max? Maybe you can make some new friends, just, you know, in-between the times when we see each other.” 

“... Add new friends?”

“Yeah.” Mike nodded. “Add new friends, I like that.” 

“Max said it, too.”

Mike grimaced. 

“Oh. Cool. She’s, uh... right. I guess.” He really didn’t like saying that. “Talking to Will’s worth a shot too, though.” 

“Maybe.” El said. “... He brought someone else home today.” 

“What?” Mike sat up. “Who?” 

“I don’t know. A boy.”

“What did he seem like? Did you talk to him?” 

“No… they went to the basement.” El said. “Do you want to talk to Will?” 

“Uh…” Mike considered for a moment. “No. Not until after the guy’s left. I guess.” 

It was good, objectively speaking, to hear that Will made a new friend. In fact, it should’ve been the first thing Mike would want to hear. It was definitely what he wanted to hear about El. Unfortunately, it didn’t feel good. It felt worrying. Not because he didn’t want Will to have friends, of course, but he had to wonder about it.

Was this just Will ‘adding new friends’? Or was it replacing his old ones? 

“You sound worried.” 

“I, uh… I am.” Mike said. “Kinda. I don’t know. I don’t… want to be. I’ll feel better when I talk to him.” 

He sounded about as confident as he felt. 

\--

“The Beholder’s cycloptic gaze falls upon you, a malignant grin spreading across its face!” Brandon shouted, standing from his chair and throwing out a hand to point at Will. “In its eye, Will the Wise, you see naught but a burning hatred for all but its own wretched kind! Faced with this evil, o wizard, what... do you do?” 

“I…” Will looked over the table in front of him, eyeing the two metallic miniatures on the board. One, a classic wizard, pointed hat, beard, robe, and long staff held in hand, the other an orb, suspended on top of a clear plastic base to give the impression of floating, eyestalks protruding from its top. 

“Uh, give me just… a second.” Will grabbed his character sheet, hastily flipping through a few pages until he reached the small list of spells he’d scrawled down. 

They’d been down in the basement playing since they got home from school. Brandon, as luck would have it, told Will that he’d been brainstorming a campaign in his head for a while, jotting down notes every now and then just in case he made a friend who’d be up to play it with him. So far, playing again had been great. 

“Time halts for no man.” Brandon warned, waving a hand over the board and inadvertently snapping Will out of his thoughts. “Not even the mightiest wizards…” 

“Maybe I cast Slow on  _ you  _ to make you give me some time to think.” Will said, giving Brandon a smile. 

“Clever.” Brandon admitted. “Wise, even! But I’m not the Beholder, so unless you want to cast it on him, I’m gonna have to say no.”

“Okay, okay, I cast…” Will trailed off, eyes darting across the page. “I cast fire -- …” 

The memory hit him hard. It was sudden, harsh, totally out of nowhere. He was transported back to a night that nightmares and errant memories had never let him forget. The night he disappeared. This wasn’t any moment he’d relived before, though. It wasn’t the Demogorgon catching him, it wasn’t the Upside Down, it wasn’t being chased down; it was what happened before all that. 

D&D night with Mike, Dustin, and Lucas. Back when they were a Party. Before El, before Max, before anything with Hawkins Labs or the Upside Down. Sitting around that table in Mike’s basement, a half-eaten pizza off to the side, a board not unlike the one in front of him now between the four of them, and him, left puzzling over what spell to cast to deal with the Demogorgon. There was Lucas, insisting he blast it with a fireball, but Dustin saying he’d better play defensive - and between it all, Mike, pressuring the three of them into taking action. 

Will went quiet and set the pages back down on the table. He looked at the two models, then up at Brandon, who was giving him a quizzical look. 

“You alright, Will?” He asked. 

“I’m okay.” He said. “I was just thinking about something. I, uh, I cast fireball.” 

Brandon sat down. Behind the Dungeon Master screen he’d put up, he rolled a die. It was a 20. 

“I failed it!” He said, pointing at Will again. “Roll the damage.” 

“Oh, cool. Sure.” Will said, reaching over for the dice.

Brandon tilted his head, watching as Will half-heartedly rolled his dice. 

“Uh… looks like twenty-six or something.” Will said, counting up the numbers in his head.

“You really don’t seem like you’re okay, man.” Brandon said. “Something you wanna talk about?”

“Not really.” Will slumped, eyeing the models on the table. “It’s just… you remember how I told you I used to play this game with my friends?” 

“Yeah. You miss them?” 

“No.” Will’s response was quick and sharp, a stark contrast to the lethargy in his voice before. “I told you, they didn’t even want to play before I left. They got too busy with other stuff.” 

“Too busy how?” Brandon asked. “Like, too busy to even hang out with you?” 

“Sorta.” Will said. “I was still  _ with  _ them, but they barely even talked to me.” 

“Let me guess…” Brandon folded up the screen in front of him. “They got girlfriends. And with them, all the drama that comes with it.” 

Will blinked. 

“How’d you know?” He asked. 

“Oh, come on. That was an easy guess.” Brandon started gathering up the dice. “We lost a guy the same way back home. He gets a girlfriend, and bang! Suddenly, he’s way too cool to hang out with us nerds.” 

“Really?” Will watched as Brandon collected the models scattered across the table. “So, this happens a lot?” 

“Guess so.” Brandon folded the board and tucked it under his arm. “It wasn’t easy, but I had to figure… that guy just wasn’t my friend anymore. Maybe he never really was, you know? He kinda tossed the whole thing out the second it stopped working for him.” 

Will frowned, turning his eyes from Brandon to the now-bare table. 

Despite it all, it hurt to think his old friends weren’t his friends anymore. It hurt even more to wonder if they were  _ never  _ friends. Was he wrong, though? If he was important to any of them, getting girlfriends wouldn’t have changed things as much as they did. 

It was clear. He never mattered to them half as much as they mattered to him. 

“But you’re making new friends now, right?” Brandon flashed a smile. “That won’t stop it from sucking, yeah, but it’ll help.” 

Will looked up. The quake in his lips couldn’t keep him from returning Brandon’s smile.

“It’ll help.” He said. 

“Good!” Brandon gave him a thumbs up. “Because you don’t need people like that dragging you down. The best way to move is on.” 

“The… what?” Will asked, blinking at him. 

“I mean, like,” Brandon said. “Moving on, you know? That’s the best way… to move. Does that make sense?” 

“Kinda.” Will said. He could still feel the smile on his face, but he didn’t have to work to keep it there. 

“Anyway, I’ve probably been here too long. I’ve gotta go home.” Brandon said, tugging at one of his wristbands. “My dad’s definitely wondering why I’m not back yet.” 

“Oh… okay.” Will said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Yeah, tomorrow!” Brandon said. “Maybe I can stop by here again after school. Finish up the story.” 

He tapped the game board, which was still tucked under his arm. 

“Definitely.” Will nodded. “See you then.” 

“See ya!” Brandon turned around, waved, and made his way up the stairs, leaving Will alone. 

Will watched him go. 

\--

The house the Byers family had moved into was nothing impressive. It was just big enough to house the four people who lived there comfortably, each getting their own room. There were two floors, not counting the basement, which Will had more or less taken for his secondary room. The rooms, small though they were, were on the top floor, and the bottom floor was for the living room and kitchen. 

Having moved downstairs from her room to the kitchen, El was sitting at the table, walkie talkie pressed to her ear. She and Mike hadn’t said anything for each other for a few minutes, leaving a quiet between them that El didn’t quite know how to break. 

He was worried about Will, she figured.

The door to the basement opened, and out stepped the boy Will had brought home. Tall, thin, wearing a black shirt, blue jeans, and wristbands. Under his arm was a board, which El recognized from the game Mike and his friends liked to play. 

“Hold on.” She said into the walkie, before setting it down on the table. He looked at her for a moment, his eyes flickering from her face to the walkie talkie. 

“So, you’re Will’s… what, sister?” He said, taking a careful step towards her. 

“Yes.” El said. “... Adopted.” 

“Oh. Never would’ve guessed.” He said. El couldn’t tell if he was trying to tell some kind of joke. She  _ could  _ tell it wasn’t funny. “What’s your name?” 

“El.” She replied. 

“El… that short for anything?” He cocked his head. 

“... No.” 

“Really.” He said. “Well, okay. El Byers. Nice to--” 

“Hopper.” She said. “El Hopper.” 

“Right.” He said, after a short pause. “Anyway, I’m probably gonna be hanging around here pretty often, so we might as well get to know each other… my name’s Brandon. Brandon Pierce.”

He held out his hand to her. El watched him carefully for a moment, looking him up and down. 

“You’re supposed to shake my hand now.” He said. 

With a bit of a frown on her face, she took his hand and shook it.

“That wasn’t so hard.” He smiled and let go, before starting towards the door. “I’ll see you next time… El.” 

“Bye.” She said, watching as he left. 

Once he was gone, El felt a certain tension lift from the room. She hadn’t really noticed it when she was talking to him, maybe too distracted by his questions, but the second he left, it was  _ obvious _ . There was something off about him. Nothing she could point at and say was weird, more like a feeling. 

She picked up the walkie and put it to her ear. 

“Mike?” She asked. “Are you still there?”    
  


“Huh?” His voice came from the other end. “Oh, yeah. Sorry, I was just… What’s up?” 

“Do you want to talk to Will now?”

Silence, as he was no doubt wondering if he really wanted to. 

“Yeah. I should try.” He said. 

“Okay.” She nodded, stood up, and walked over to the basement door. 

\--

Sometimes it felt like Will had already watched every movie he had a thousand times. He might as well have, really. Nearly every day since the move, he’d sat around in the basement of their new place just watching the same movies over and over, an endless cycle of horror and fantasy that got less exciting each time it repeated.

That had to change soon, right? Now that he had someone to do stuff with.

When Brandon wasn’t around, though, repeating the cycle was better than doing nothing. Especially since Jonathan let him have his small collection of horror movies. After looking through the collection, he’d picked out a few that he might want to watch:  _ Poltergeist _ ,  _ The Exorcist _ , and  _ The Omen _ . 

He looked between the three VHS tapes, which he’d set down on the table. Just as he decided - he’d seen  _ The Omen _ less times than the other two, so that seemed like the obvious pick - he heard knocking on the door. Which was weird. It wasn’t normal for anyone to bother him when he was down in the basement. 

“Yeah?” He turned his head to see the door open, and El walk through it, walkie in hand. Will crossed his arms, watching as she walked downstairs and over to him. 

“Mike wants to talk.” She said. 

“Why?” Will asked, looking at the walkie.

“He’s your friend.” She held it out to him. “He wants to talk.” 

Will stared at it, then looked back at El. The steely glare that met him told him everything he needed to know. As much as what Brandon told him left him wanting to say no, this wasn’t something he could turn down. 

Begrudgingly, he took the walkie from her hand and put it to his ear.

“What, Mike?” He asked, turning his back to El. 

“Will! Hey.” Mike said. “I just -- I wanted to check up on you. I heard you made a new friend, which is cool, but I was just thinking… we should try and talk more, you know?” 

“Why?” Will asked, his voice turning harsh. “Why do you want to talk to me now?” 

Mike was quiet for a moment. 

“I told you, I miss you.” Mike said. “You’re --” 

“Why do you miss me?” He asked. “What, you just, you suddenly want to talk to me now that I can’t make you look lame in front of your girlfriend? Now that being friends with me doesn’t mean you actually have to hang out with me?” 

“ _ What? _ ” Mike asked. “No! What are you talking about?” 

“I’m talking about summer, Mike!” Will said, fighting to keep himself from shouting. “Do you really think I can just forget about everything and act like it’s all okay? Just because you suddenly want to be my friend again?” 

“I never  _ stopped  _ being your friend!” Mike said. “Sure, fine, I was acting like an asshole over summer, but it was kind of the worst summer of my life? I’m sorry, okay? I’m  _ sorry _ . What else do you want from me?” 

“I want you to leave me  _ alone _ .” 

Will shut off the walkie, turned around, and held it out to El. She jerked it out of his hand, still glaring at him. A few moments past of her staring at him before he spoke up. 

“Please just... go away, El.” He said, all the aggression from before drained from his voice. “I wanna watch a movie. Alone.” 

“Fine.” El said. There was more she wished she could’ve said, feelings she had that she didn’t quite know how to voice. As much as she would’ve liked to figure it out, tell Will exactly what she was feeling, making sure Mike was okay was more important. 

She turned around and walked back up the stairs, flicking the walkie on as she did. 

Left alone, Will sat down at the table. He rested his head on his palm, looking down at the movies in front of him. After that, he definitely didn’t feel like watching any of them. He wasn’t going to be able to think about anything but Mike, last summer, and whether or not he did the right thing telling him off like that. 

He didn’t feel like he did. Mike wanted to talk to him again. Obviously. He apologized, too...

But Brandon was right. Right? If Mike was willing to toss him out before, what was stopping him from doing it again? Nothing. It was time for him to move on. Like Brandon said. 

Will ran his hand through his hair. 

It’d feel good eventually, right? Just give it a few days, and he would start forgetting all about Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and everything he left behind in Hawkins. Until it started feeling good, though, he just had to try and distract himself… which meant watching more movies. 

He really wished he had something else to do. Maybe trying to get a walkie for Brandon wasn’t a bad idea. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two months later, and i am finally updating this. sorry about the wait! gonna try to write more consistently from now on, but we'll see


	5. Chapter 5

Weird how a video rental place could become a hangout for Dustin. In any normal situation, he’d have preferred hanging around at the arcade, or one of his friends’ places, or anywhere remotely more exciting. Instead, because two of his best friends happened to get a job there, Dustin was stuck finding refuge among VHS tapes and the malaise of part-time employment. 

It was the first place he went to after school. Mike, of course, wanted to go to Cerebro to talk to El. Fine. That was to be expected. As reluctant as Dustin was to leave anyone alone with his creation, however, he really didn’t feel like spending the whole evening hanging around there either occupying himself with reading or listening in on his friend’s romantic life. He’d already spent enough time doing that to last a lifetime. 

Not to mention, he had something he needed to do. His ace in the hole when it came to dealing with random bullshit his friends got up to. It never failed before, and if it failed this time, Dustin would know that nothing could get his friends back together.

It was time to get advice from Steve Harrington. 

“They’re both acting like total _assholes_.” Dustin, face down into his folded arms on the counter, groaned. 

“Welcome to high school, Henderson. Everyone’s an asshole.” Steve said. “Now get off the counter, people’re staring.” 

“Okay, but why?” Dustin removed his face from the counter. 

“Because it’s weird that you’re planting your face on my counter?” 

“Not that, I mean why’s everyone an asshole?” Dustin rolled his eyes. Steve smirked, turning away from the counter towards a small stack of VHS tapes. 

“Because high school kids are just like that.” He said, starting to sort through the tapes. “Growing up would suck without everything high school shoves at you. It’s kinda the perfect bullshit storm. And that’s not even getting into the crazy shit you and your friends do.” 

“So, what do I do?” Dustin watched Steve sort through the tapes. “Just let them be assholes?” 

“Maybe. If you want them to keep being assholes.” Steve said. “Or maybe you put your foot down and just be honest with them.” 

“You really think that’ll work?” Dustin reached over and grabbed one of the tapes. It was _Raiders of the Lost Ark_. “Oh, cool--” 

“Thaaaat’s not yours.” Steve said, snatching the tape back. “And yeah, sure. There’s a big difference between an asshole and someone who’s acting like an asshole. You remember what I was like in high school, right?” 

“Yeah, I remember. _King Steve_.” Dustin snickered. “King of the douches, am I right?” 

“Yeah, hey, Henderson?” Steve leaned forward. “I’m giving you the best advice you ever got here, so you better watch yourself. Got it?”

“Got it.” Dustin stood up straight and gave a small salute.

“Good.” Steve pointed at him, before going back to the tapes. “I guess you’re not wrong, though. But I really just needed someone to snap me out of that. Get me, someone who’s not… completely an asshole, to stop acting like an asshole. Nancy handled that pretty well.” 

“Didn’t she slap you in the face?” Dustin asked. “And Jonathan beat you up after that, right?” 

Steve glared at him from across the counter. 

“I said _watch it_ , Henderson.” He warned. “... But, yeah, basically.” 

“So, you want me to slap Mike. Got it.” Dustin said, smiling at his own joke. 

“No, Jesus -- I’m trying to be serious here.” Steve looked up from the tapes. “I’m saying you just have to be honest with him. Snap him out of it. I mean, okay, Mike. He’s your friend, right?” 

“Right.” Dustin said. 

“Right! So, unless he’s a real asshole, and not just acting like one, he’s not gonna ditch you for being honest with him about this.” Steve said, as he picked out a VHS from his stack. “I had some shitty friends in high school. Look at that prick Tommy H., you know that guy?” 

“Kinda?” Dustin tilted his head.

“Sorry about that.” Steve set the VHS down on the counter. “That was an asshole. The second I called him out for it, he was gone. That’s the kinda guy you don’t want to be friends with.” 

“So… what?” 

“So, for one thing, I don’t think Wheeler’s like that.” Steve said. “But if he is, somehow, that means you shouldn’t be hanging out with him in the first place. You can do better than Tommy H.” 

“Mike definitely isn’t like that.” Dustin said. “Even if he’s being stupid.” 

“Right.” Steve nodded, sliding the VHS tape across the counter. “Odds are he’ll listen to you if you just be honest with him. And having a badass movie to watch with him after you talk won’t hurt.” 

Dustin grabbed the VHS tape. It was _Raiders of the Lost Ark_.

“Oh, I, uh, I don’t actually have any--” 

“Duh. You’re like, what, twelve?” Steve said. “Just bring it back before Thursday. That’s when it was due for the last guy.”

“Awesome!” Dustin said, turning away from the counter. “I’ll bring it back in time, for sure.”

“You better.” Steve said, watching as Dustin made for the door, VHS in hand. “And don’t just watch the movie, follow my advice too!”

“You’re the best, Steve!” Dustin called over his shoulder as he pushed the door open to leave. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Steve smiled to himself as Dustin left. “I know.”

\--

Ever since the incident at Starcourt, the Palace Arcade had been a favorite hangout of Max’s — with or without Lucas. Usually without, lately. 

It was at least _supposed_ to be a distraction. Provided she had the quarters to spare, and she usually did, she would get a solid hour or so of time with games like Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac-Man, and Galaga. They almost managed to keep her mind off everything, too. 

Speaking of, Max had been playing Galaga for the past ten minutes. It was almost second nature to her, about as easy as riding her skateboard. She normally lasted a hell of a lot longer than ten minutes. 

She just wasn’t thinking clearly this time. It was hard to focus, like her brain was split between Galaga and _everything_ else. Having Lucas around made things weird. If the point of the arcade was keep her mind off of wild post-summer drama, wasn’t having a constant reminder of it floating around kinda counter-productive? 

Maybe thinking about her boyfriend like that was shitty. It sure didn’t make her feel great about herself, especially when she knew he was kinda trying to help, but it was true. She wasn’t about to act like it wasn’t. 

The game could’ve gone on longer, if she hadn’t lost on purpose. She tried not to make it obvious.

“Shit.” She said, fishing through her pockets. “I think I’m out of quarters.” 

It was a lie. Again, not something she was happy doing, but it was about time for her to get out of there. Whatever Lucas’s plan was, well-intentioned as it might’ve been, it wasn’t working. Flat out. Hanging around the arcade wasn’t helping her any more than hanging around anywhere else would’ve. 

All she wanted to do was get back home and be on her own for a bit. Maybe call up El, if she wasn’t too busy talking to Mike for the fifth consecutive hour. 

“Oh, no problem.” Lucas reached into his pockets. “I think I’ve got some.” 

Max turned away from the game.

“Yeah, uh… okay. Cool.” She said, looking off to the side. “I actually think I’m just gonna head home.” 

“Uh, why?” Lucas asked. “I’ve got more quarters, so…” 

“I’m just not feeling it right now.” She said. “I’m just — I’m gonna go.” 

Not a second later, Max pushed past him, making her way to the door. Ditching him like that didn’t feel good, exactly. Not when she knew that this was some kind of attempt to make her feel better, or to get things back on track with them, or something along those lines. She didn’t want to get into a fight with him over it. 

“Max, wait —” 

Of course, Lucas followed after her. She didn’t slow down, didn’t even acknowledge what he said, instead she just pushed the door open when she got to it and stepped outside into the warm, heavy end-of-summer air. 

“Max!” Lucas called out as he left the arcade. “Could you just wait up?” 

“Jesus _Christ_ , Lucas.” Max turned around to face him. He took a step back. “I just want to go home. Okay? I don’t feel like hanging out.” 

“Why not?” He asked. “We kinda had this planned all day.” 

“Does it _matter?_ ” She asked, before holding up a hand. “Don’t even answer that. The right answer’s ‘no, it doesn’t matter, go home, see you tomorrow’. I’m gonna act like that’s your answer.”

She turned around, walking over to the bike rack where she left her skateboard. Footsteps behind her let her know Lucas was still following her. 

“Max, seriously —” 

“Seriously _what?_ ” Max picked up her skateboard. 

“What’s going on with you?” He asked. “It’s like you never want to _do_ anything anymore. I mean, don’t you like the arcade?” 

“Maybe,” Max turned around, prodding Lucas in the chest. “Summer was pretty _fucking_ bad for me, and maybe it made it kinda _fucking_ hard to want to do normal shit like this. Just, y’know, maybe!”

Without another word, Max turned around, set her skateboard down, stepped on it, and kicked off. 

“Max!” Lucas called after her, but it was too late. She was already halfway down the street, leaving him standing alone in the parking lot. After a few moments of watching her go, he sighed and rubbed his forehead. 

Summer, right. Fucking summer. Everyone’s new favorite excuse for acting weird as hell. 

Maybe that was a shitty way of looking at it. _Maybe_ . He leaned against the bike rack. How else was he supposed to see it, though? First, Will doesn’t talk to _anyone_ , least of all him or Mike. Then Mike gets wrapped up in cooing over his walkie talkie girlfriend all day, to the point where he won’t even think about doing anything else. Now Max was acting like this. 

The only one acting remotely normal was Dustin, and he’d gotten wrapped up in making sure Mike still found the time to eat and sleep in between girlfriend sessions. 

Maybe _that_ was who he had to talk to. 

\--

Well, that more or less confirmed it. If it wasn’t obvious to Mike that Will wanted nothing to do with him before, it had to be now. He laid back down on the grass, letting the walkie fall to his side, and shut his eyes. 

If only he could’ve known how bad this would be _during_ summer.

He forced himself to put the walkie to his ear. 

“El? You there?” He asked. No response. 

He waited a few more moments, and was still met with total radio silence. Pushing himself into a seated position, Mike looked over at Cerebro’s controls. He leaned over to get a better look, eyes moving from the controls to the walkie itself. Everything looked relatively normal. Granted, he was a little out of practice when it came to radio equipment, but once an AV Club member, always an AV Club member. 

“El?” He said into the walkie. “Hey, El? Can you hear me?”

Silence. He got to his feet, brow furrowing. 

So, Will must’ve shut off the walkie and not given it back to El. That would make sense… if it were something Will would do, which it wasn’t. Mike couldn’t imagine him refusing to give El the walkie back. 

With what he said, though, maybe he _was_ that spiteful now. Mike didn’t _want_ to think that was the case, but what were the other options? No way did El just not want to talk to him, that was even less likely. 

It had to be something wrong with Cerebro. That was the only thing that made any sense. 

Mike set the walkie down, knelt down, and started messing with Cerebro’s controls. All the switches and dials sure _looked_ like they were set in the right positions. He looked up at the satellite itself. It was getting a little too dark to tell, but it looked like it was still set up right. It wasn’t like the still summer air would’ve messed with it. 

Could it have been an internal thing? Mike looked down at the radio controls. As unhappy as Dustin would’ve been to know he was messing with his invention…

He wasn’t a few seconds in to trying to pry the radio open, as safely as he could manage without the proper equipment, before he heard a voice. 

“Hey!” 

It was Dustin. Mike shot to his feet, holding his hands in the air. 

“Oh, Dustin… hey.” He said. 

“What were you doing to Cerebro?” Dustin asked, glancing down at the radio. 

“I was trying to fix it.” Mike said. “It cut out after Will told me to fuck off again. So.” 

Dustin looked up at Mike again. It was getting a little dark, but Mike’s rigid posture told him all he needed to know. Shit had somehow managed to go even further south, and it sure as hell wasn’t gonna be conducive to getting Mike to talk to Lucas. 

Still, he had to stick to Steve’s advice.

“Are you sure Will didn’t just shut it off and put it away?” Dustin asked, walking over and kneeling down next to the radio. 

“Will wouldn’t do that.” Mike said. He watched Dustin check each of the dials and switches, just like he had a minute or so before. “I mean, he wouldn’t. Right? Even if he’s acting like this, why would he care if El’s talking to me?” 

“Because he’s jealous?” Dustin suggested. “I mean, all of us are kinda jealous. I think he’s just sick of it, so he’s mad instead. You know?”

“What?” Mike asked, blinking. “What are you talking about?” 

“You really need to start picking up on this shit.” Dustin rolled his eyes and got to his feet. “All of us miss hanging out with you. Will probably misses hanging out with you, even if he’s too angry about summer to realize it. And I mean, I get it, you love El, you wanna spend time with her, cool, but sometimes it feels like you forget about the rest of us.”

“I don’t _forget_ anyone!” Mike said. “Yeah, okay, I spend a lot of time talking to El. So what? She’s my girlfriend, and — and I miss having her here. A lot. I’m not gonna stop talking to her just because nobody gets that.” 

“Nobody’s asking you to stop talking to her.” Dustin rubbed his forehead. “Look, I’m trying to say that you need to try and balance this shit. You can still talk to El while hanging out with everyone else. I mean, honestly — really honestly, don’t you miss hanging out with Lucas? At all?” 

Mike crossed his arms and looked off to the side. 

“I miss when Lucas wasn’t a dick.” Mike said, looking down at his feet. “But he is now, so.” 

It was a start. 

“Okay.” Dustin said, as he walked over to him. “Lucas isn’t a dick. Maybe he’s being a dick, or was being a dick, or whatever. But honestly, you said some stupid shit to him too.” 

“Like what?” Mike asked. “All I did was let him know he’s an asshole for never even trying to talk to Will and El.” 

“Uh, no,” Dustin said. “You got just as bad as he did when you brought up the whole thing with him and Max.” 

Mike opened his mouth to protest, but seemingly decided against it before going silent. He kept his eyes firmly on the ground. 

“Maybe.” Mike said. “I mean, I think it’s bullshit Max dumps him all the time.”

“Right, okay, I’m with you, but this isn’t about Max.” Dustin said. “This is about you and Lucas. Because once you and Lucas make up, you’re gonna start feeling a lot better.”

“I… okay. Maybe.” Mike finally looked up. “What about Will, though? He’s being… I don’t know, he’s being _impossible_. It’s like there’s nothing I can say to him that he’ll listen to.” 

Dustin took a moment to think about it. 

“Okay, so, Will’s really mad at you.” Dustin said. “To the point where he’s not gonna listen to a word you say. Right?” 

“I guess.” 

“So, we’ll get someone else to talk to him. I can try to.” Dustin said. “Maybe once you and Lucas start talking, we can get Lucas to try, too. We can show him that we’re still his friends.” 

“That’s… a good idea.” Mike said. “Except the part where Cerebro’s not working.” 

“No, Cerebro’s fine.” Dustin said. “At least, it should be. All the controls and stuff are good, so it’s gotta be something on their end. Maybe Will did shut off the walkie, or maybe there’s some kinda interference, I dunno. Either way, it’ll get worked out, then we can snap him out of whatever the hell this whole thing is.” 

“So, that’s our plan.” Mike said. “I’ll talk to Lucas tomorrow, then you’ll talk to Will.” 

“Well, that’s the plan for tomorrow.” Dustin said, slinging one arm around Mike’s shoulders as he used the other to reach into his backpack. “Tonight…” 

He pulled out a VHS tape - _Raiders of the Lost Ark_. 

“I stopped by my place, and my mom said I’m in the clear to stay over your place for the night. Unless you don’t want to watch a badass movie, for some reason.” 

Mike looked from the tape to Dustin. After a moment, he smiled - probably the most genuine smile Dustin had seen from him in ages. 

“Sure.” He said. 

\-- 

As soon as she was out of the basement, El switched her walkie back on. 

“Mike?” She said, not sure what she was expecting to hear. 

After that, it’d be surprising if he weren’t upset. Maybe just as upset as he was when he had his fight with Lucas. So, when she didn’t hear anything at first, she wasn’t too surprised. He probably needed some time before he wanted to say anything. 

When a response hadn’t come after nearly a minute of waiting, then she was surprised. And worried. She looked at the walkie, checking if the switch were on. It was. As far as she could tell, though she didn’t exactly know her way around technology, it should have been working. 

“Mike?” She said into the walkie again. No response. In fact, she couldn’t hear anything at all from the other end. She looked behind her at the door to the basement. 

Will was the only person she knew who would know the first thing about fixing a broken walkie. After what he said to Mike, though, she didn’t want to talk to him at all, much less ask him for help. She stepped away from the door and back over to the kitchen table, where she gave the walkie another once-over. 

She flipped the switch a few times. 

“Hi? Mike?” She tried again. Nothing from the other end. 

Before she could try anything else, she heard knocking on the door. Startled, she looked up. 

It was late. Which meant it wasn’t normal for anyone to be going around knocking on doors. She stood up, leaving the walkie behind, and walked over to the door. Another series of knocks, this one louder than the last. El frowned. 

Maybe it was Will’s friend. She hoped not. 

El pulled the door open. Her eyes widened.

Standing in the doorway, leaning casually against the door frame, was someone she hadn’t seen in a long time. Just a bit over a year, if she remembered right. 

“Jane.” Kali said, giving her sister a once-over. “It’s been a while.” 


End file.
